As I wrote earlier in the week, we are working our way through the Exploring Nature with Children (ENWC) curriculum. Here I share the activities we have undertaken as part of of week 1 – seed dispersal.
Nature Walk
We went to our place of choice and had a lovely walk. I wrote about this in more detail here. We also followed up the next day when we were out with friends are we spotted some himalyan balsam and with it their ‘popping seed’s. The children had great fun popping these.
We have also been checking the Horse chestnut tree at the top of our road to see if the conkers are ready… they’re not yet but we did collect some conkers last week when we were in Cardiff.
Art
Miss E is quite artistic – she often takes a pen and pencil and sits and draws and I am keen to encourage her and Mr D (and Mr H in due course) to draw and create things. I wish I could draw better so I have bought some watercolour pencils and had a go at drawing this week. I chose to draw an acorn, Miss E drew a (colourful) Hawthorn Bush and Mr D did a beech tree nut.
Experiments
We used the guided journal to conduct a simple experiment to look at the seeds we had gathered and to see how they might be dispersed. We tested if they flew or fluttered to the ground (by blowing them off our hands), checked if they stuck to our clothing and also got a small tub of water to test if they would sink or float.
This was a lot of fun and we predicted what we thought would happen, remembering where we had found the different seeds (ie: next to the river).
We also had great fun with the zoomy microscope. We had talked about the grass seeds and how they stuck to Damian’s sweater. We magnified a seed on it’s own, the one that was on Damian’s sweater. The children were pretty impressed to be able to see the small hairs on the seed and how it was those that were helping it to grip to the sweater. It really helped to bring the idea to life for them. I think the microscope will be a really useful tool for us this year.
Online Resources
We accessed a fab powerpoint from Twinkl that Mr D and I watched together. We also printed this sorting activity, but we haven’t got round to using it yet. I am sure we will over the next week though.
The children have really enjoyed the this week and I look forward to next week – mini-beasts.
Thats fabulous. Excellent work. I love the pic of Emma.
thank you – they loved doing the little experiment. I have another one or two planned if we get time tomorrow x
How interesting. I love the drawings. Mini Beasts was my daughter’s favourite subject last year so next week should be lots of fun too!
Wow what a fab experiment to do with the children! This looks like something my girls would love to do!
So great to teach the little ones about nature!
This sounds so much fun and great learning for the kids. I must give it ago with my boys
Sounds like it was a week of learning and fun. That is great!
This is great, what a fab idea. I have an environmental background and I am always looking for ways to get my little man interested in nature and such – Thanks!
Sounds like it was a great week. I love how you’ve really got them involved in learning 🙂
I can imagine how fun this must be for all of You. Plus, lots to learn xxx..will love to see what’s up for next week..
What a fabulous curriculum this sounds like. My children are older, but I think they would still enjoy exploring different seed dispersal methods, as well as maybe planting some for themselves and seeing if they grow. Thanks for the inspiration!
This looks like loads of fun for both children and adults alike! I confess I know very little about seed dispersal, what a great way to learn!
That’s such a good idea. My mum used to go pick up chestnuts and then cook them. Wonderful times